


Safeguard

by NPennyworth



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Wanda Maximoff Gets a Hug, Wanda Maximoff Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-22
Updated: 2018-05-22
Packaged: 2019-05-10 08:30:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14733521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NPennyworth/pseuds/NPennyworth
Summary: Wanda's had nightmares for as long as she can remember.





	Safeguard

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [ Meelo's ](https://meeloistrying.tumblr.com/) beautiful [ fanart ](https://meeloistrying.tumblr.com/post/174084196957/just-another-nightmare-more-scarletvision). Scarlet Vision is my OTP and I enjoyed finally writing something for them, so enjoy!

Wanda couldn’t really remember a time before the nightmares. She knew in a detached, logical sort of way that when she was younger she would have only had nightmares sparingly, monsters conjured up by her mind hiding under beds and in closets. But after the bombs fell they shifted into dreams filled with holes and explosions, with a faceless man laughing in the distance as he pressed a button that killed her family.

HYDRA did not make things better, although most of her time in their care she was sedated, dreams kept away from her by a wall of drugs and pain. It was a small mercy, as she quickly discovered one night when they let her sleep without the drugs.

Her dreams that night were filled with screams and red mist, tearing her apart as she watched Pietro writhe in agony before her, more subjects wailing as they were torn apart. The transition from being asleep to awakening was so seamless she didn’t realize that it had happened until an alarm began to wail, and she realized that she was covered in real blood. The mist had come crawling out of her eyes and mouth and flowed over her skin, and when a guard had tried to wake her it had lashed into him, slicing his flesh and making him scream in pain. She spared only a moment to be grateful that Pietro hadn’t been the one to touch her.

Wanda hadn’t slept without being sedated for the rest of their time in HYDRA, and after they finally escaped she kept moving, trying to exhaust herself to the point where her mind was too tired to feed her horrors. It only worked some of the time, but Pietro knew not to touch her. He kept at a safe distance and sang songs to her, lullabies that Wanda vaguely remembered hearing in her mother’s voice. The mist would slowly sink back into her skin and Pietro would wait until it had dissipated to rush to her and wrap his arms around her, and Wanda hated the way she would flinch back from his touch.

It was both better and worse in the Avengers compound, because she would wake gasping from nightmares alone, with nobody to comfort her and nobody she had to stay away from. She didn’t get much sleep, developing an appreciation for coffee and spending the grey hours of early morning reading or playing the guitar. The walls were soundproof, something she appreciated.

Steve knew that she wasn’t sleeping well and offered his company, as he was also often plagued by insomnia. Natasha didn’t say anything but would buy her coffee. Sam offered a listening ear, and suggested counselling. Wanda stayed away from all of them, keeping herself in her room and trying to concentrate on controlling the mist, using it to lash out and then keeping it locked away in her bones, holding it under her skin no matter how much it longed to be released.

Vision was the only one who perhaps understood, the only one she could touch without worrying that she would destroy him. Perhaps it was a product of his skin feeling unlike human skin, cooler and with tiny patterns etched in it. Perhaps it was because she could sense him differently, his mind glowing like a beacon in the midst of a thousand candles, bright and brilliant and somehow comforting.

Or maybe it was simply his smile, the way his eyes lit up when he saw her, the absolute trust he gave her despite her warning him that she didn’t deserve it. In his eyes she was good, because she had loved her country enough to be remade for it, and fought against Ultron not for who he was but because of what he’d tried to do.

Wanda wished that could be enough.

The Raft was almost nothing compared to what she’d experienced before, but it was still enough to send her nightmares whirling in a new direction, being trapped and restrained as all around her she heard the screams of her friends dying and felt the mist being dragged out of her by something that wanted to use it to hurt, maim, destroy.

She’d never slept in a room with somebody other than Pietro, and even that hadn’t happened in years. So when Vision revealed the apartment they were renting she had forgotten about the danger and happily lain down next to him.

Then she was waking up with a scream on the tip of her tongue and Vision was right there, right  _ next to her,  _ illuminated by the twisting tendrils of red rising up from her skin.

“No,” she said, jerking back from him, legs kicking away the blankets as she tried to regain control, tried to restrain herself. “Get back.”

“Wanda, are you okay?” Vision asked, still reaching out for her, and Wanda closed her eyes as the image of him  _ broken, torn apart, dying _ flashed across her mind.

“It’s not safe,” she said. “The mist-” she was cut off at the feel of his skin against hers, coolness smoothed into something more human, something vulnerable.

“It’s alright. You could never hurt me,” Vision said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. Wanda’s breath caught in her throat for a moment in terror but slowly she realized that the mist wasn’t hurting him. It was still there, coiling around her and caressing her skin, but where Vision touched her it receded, calming and vanishing into her flesh, smoothing out what had before been knotted tendrils of pain.

“Vizh,” she said, her voice small and weak and choked with tears. Vision only held her closer, one hand holding her to him and the other cradling her head and stroking her hair.

“It’s okay,” he said. “I’m here.”

Perhaps her mist recognized the Mind stone, something familiar that it knew wasn’t a threat. Perhaps Vision couldn’t be hurt by her mist without intention, without her consciously gathering her power and thrusting it at him with intent to injure.

But as Wanda relaxed into his embrace, she thought that maybe it was just that this was Vision, the man who had coffee with her every morning and built a human face so he could see her, a man who laughed uproariously at bad jokes and watched rom coms with her, a man who knew the extent of her power and wasn’t afraid of her.

Vision relaxed his grip and started to pull away and Wanda caught his hand, red mist tangling their fingers together.

“Are you okay?” Vision said, and Wanda watched the red mist play through their fingers and wondered for the first time if she could use it to heal, to grow, to build. Things she had thought were lost to her, but now might be achievable.

“Thank you,” she said, grabbing his hand and squeezing it.

“Ah, it was nothing,” Vision said, his voice betraying his discomfort. “Would you… like to go back to sleep?”

“Sure,” Wanda said, and they lay down together, still holding hands, their bodies curled up next together. Vision’s eyes were locked on her and Wanda smiled at him, an expression he mirrored. They lay staring at each other until their breaths evened out and they slowly drifted off to sleep.

When Wanda woke up, it was to the smell of Vision attempting to brew coffee, and she realised that for the first time in a very long time she hadn’t had a nightmare.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are appreciated! However, I've run into this problem for previous Wanda fics, so let me make myself clear: If you don't like Wanda, Vision, or seeing them shipped together then that's fine, but there is absolutely no reason you need to 1) read this fic or 2) tell me in the comments. Please be respectful and considerate!


End file.
